ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to help us ascend the learning curve as quickly as possible. It helps us to learn about astronomy and know the best days of the year for different night sky targets, and to discover subtleties of photographic techniques unique to landscape astrophotography. The book also helps us to integrate our astronomy and photography knowledge in the form of a detailed plan, itinerary, and schedule for our nightscape image expeditions, and to learn special techniques for processing our images to achieve spectacular effects. It explores the science behind the amazing phenomena that accompany sunsets and sunrises. The book explains the reasons and timing of the phases of the moon and why they're so important for astrophotography. It demonstrates the possibilities of image enhancement in the digital darkroom, using Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and other popular software.